Saturday, November 26, 2011

It all started with a box of books. Grace helped me pack a shelf of her books into a box. It went relatively easy until I tried to tape it shut. She told me not to give away her books. We decided not to touch her stuff until the last possible moment.

Then Matt decided to pack up the stuff under the kitchen sink. She's not even allowed under the kitchen sink, but as soon as she saw the box, she started screaming and hyperventilating and crying uncontrollably. We decided we wouldn't pack when she is in the house.

The boxes are piled everywhere. In fact, one box has become her personal car, but she still finds things that are "missing". Take the clock on the wall. Matt packed it one day when we were out of the house. Grace came in and repeatedly asked where the clock was. It got to the point where we had to unpack the clock and put it back on the wall.

This packing stuff is not all it's cracked up to be.

One more week. I wonder if Grace will let us pack. We're down to the wire now.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Well, the calendar now says November, and Grace and I made three crafty turkeys today, but the seasons have not changed in my house.

Grace is still wearing her Halloween costume. She's worn it just about every day since the beginning of October, and we're still counting. Her handprint spiders and painted pumpkins still decorate the fireplace. And the candy. Oh, the candy. And Grace has a wicked sweet tooth. It's so bad that she'll have meltdowns over not being allowed to eat candy for breakfast or lunch or dinner.

I think Snow White will remain with us long past Thanksgiving. Well, at least until that costume is nothing but threads, so in the meantime, I'm trying to get our household less focused on Halloween and more so on Thanksgiving.

We started with making leaves of gratitude. I originally was going to make a tree, but then I found a turkey on Pinterest, and now we are in the throws of packing our house up because we finally sold it, so who knows where these daily gratitude leaves will end up. All I know is that daily Grace and I (and Matt if he is home) write down what we are thankful for on that day. Grace was first thankful for leaves. I'm hoping this trend brings me out of my stressful funk.

Last week, I read this during my daily reading:

Whoever wants to embrace lifeand see the day fill up with good,Here's what you do:Say nothing evil or hurtful;Snub evil and cultivate good;run after peace for all you're worth.God looks on all this with approval,listenning and responding well to what he's asked;But he turns his backon those who do evil things.

Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless - that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing.

Wow! Right?

I read that last week. I tried to be mindful this week to focus on the positive. Let me tell you the negative won quite a few times, but I'm not giving up. I'm going to remember the blessings in my life.

1 - Listening to Grace sing "Jesus, loves me"2 - Getting moments to snuggle and rock Grace again just like when she was a newbie.3 - Hot apple cider4 - Signing a contract to SELL THIS HOUSE5 - sleeping in just a little bit longer on a Saturday because my wonderful husband got up when a certain little person started yelling Mama, Mama.6 - Grace (Every.Single. Thing about her)...even the constant why? why? why?7 - Being a parent. This is one of the greatest gifts.8 - Bars behind the vents in my car, so when my child tries to use it like a cash register, the coins don't actually go all the way in the heating and ac vents.9 - Knowing that my patience is restored each and every day.10 - Dora Band-aids for $2 at Big Lots. We go through a lot of band-aids. (Grace uses them as accessories. Lots and lots of accessories.)